23 | 01 | 2018

Appendix to the Study on Protection and Controls of Geographical Indications for Agricultural Products in the EU Member States Published

Photo: Freeimages.com/Oliver Glauser

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) published an Appendix to the Study on Protection and Controls of Geographical Indications for Agricultural Products in the European Union, which represents a collection of good practices in the European Union in the field of controls of geographical indications, titled “Good Practices in National Controls”.

Good practices collected and identified in this Appendix to the Study comprise three aspects of controls of geographical indications. The first aspect refers to the performance of controls before the product is placed on the marketplace, with an account of several experiences identified in Romania, Italy, Portugal and Germany. The second aspect refers to the surveillance of the use of the name in the market, with examples from Italian and Portuguese practice; and the third aspect refers to ex officio protection measures taken by responsible authorities in order to prevent unlawful use of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications that are produced or marketed in national markets of the European Union Member States, with examples presented from the practices of responsible authorities in Italy and France.